Cheato Not Growing??? :( Nitrates and Phosphates not going down?

andy2966 · 10/24/2012, 02:47 PM

I put 2 tennis ball size pieces of cheato in my sump and they did not grow or reduce the nitrates in 3 months. None of the cheato died it just stayed the same size. It may have been the lighting I was using as I just upgraded to a 5000k 75 watt flouesence bulb with a aluminum reflecter. I had CYNO Bacteria growing with my cheato so I think it was a lighting issue. My Nitrates in My tank stayed at 5-10. Not bad but my Phosphates are around .25. Hopefully this new light will make things right. Any Opinions? Questions fire away. 30 gallon sump with 20 lbs rock/rubble and copods.

thegrun · 10/24/2012, 03:26 PM

Do you have the chaeto ball up near the water surface? If not prop it up on some live rock or egg crate. If it's not near the surface it will not grow. You should also flip over the chaeto ball once or twice a week to keep the underside from dieing.

TheKman · 10/24/2012, 04:10 PM

I had this issue as well until I got my chaeto to float towards the top and I also ran my fuge light for a longer period of time for a few days just to help jump start things, now it's growing like a weed

mcgyvr · 10/24/2012, 04:32 PM

Run the fuse light opposite of your daytime lights.. Let the cheato roll around and trim and discard when it starts to grow well. You didn't say what your light was before but that flood should do just fine. Most go with the CFL bulbs so its not so hot/energy consuming.

You using RODI water?

andy2966 · 10/24/2012, 06:25 PM

The Cheato does float right at the top. I have yet to rotate it but none of it is dead. Yes I am using RO/DI water only. And I have The timer set to run at night opposite the T-5s. The light before was just and old 10 gallon hood and bulb I set sideways over the 30 gallon sump. The Bulb was so old I could not remove it and read the writing on it. But The new lighting I bought is as least twice as bright.

jack.lai.83 · 10/24/2012, 07:16 PM

how much flow do you have through the sump. I had cheato earlier that also had cyano when it didn't have enough flow.

andy2966 · 10/24/2012, 07:36 PM

My return pump is rated at 490 GPH . Was thinking about putting in a small power head. The water falls from the overflow box directly onto the rocks and cheato. And that keeps everything moving in there. I see lots of Pods crawling around in The cheato and on the tank glass.

10/24/2012, 02:47 PM	#1
andy2966 Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Saint Louis, MO. Posts: 376	Cheato Not Growing??? :( Nitrates and Phosphates not going down? I put 2 tennis ball size pieces of cheato in my sump and they did not grow or reduce the nitrates in 3 months. None of the cheato died it just stayed the same size. It may have been the lighting I was using as I just upgraded to a 5000k 75 watt flouesence bulb with a aluminum reflecter. I had CYNO Bacteria growing with my cheato so I think it was a lighting issue. My Nitrates in My tank stayed at 5-10. Not bad but my Phosphates are around .25. Hopefully this new light will make things right. Any Opinions? Questions fire away. 30 gallon sump with 20 lbs rock/rubble and copods. __________________ Just a little patience Current Tank Info: 90 Gallon (FOWLR) and 29 Gallon used for QT mostly

10/24/2012, 04:32 PM	#4
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	Run the fuse light opposite of your daytime lights.. Let the cheato roll around and trim and discard when it starts to grow well. You didn't say what your light was before but that flood should do just fine. Most go with the CFL bulbs so its not so hot/energy consuming. You using RODI water? __________________ Who me?

10/24/2012, 06:25 PM	#5
andy2966 Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Saint Louis, MO. Posts: 376	The Cheato does float right at the top. I have yet to rotate it but none of it is dead. Yes I am using RO/DI water only. And I have The timer set to run at night opposite the T-5s. The light before was just and old 10 gallon hood and bulb I set sideways over the 30 gallon sump. The Bulb was so old I could not remove it and read the writing on it. But The new lighting I bought is as least twice as bright. __________________ Just a little patience Current Tank Info: 90 Gallon (FOWLR) and 29 Gallon used for QT mostly

10/24/2012, 07:36 PM	#7
andy2966 Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Saint Louis, MO. Posts: 376	My return pump is rated at 490 GPH . Was thinking about putting in a small power head. The water falls from the overflow box directly onto the rocks and cheato. And that keeps everything moving in there. I see lots of Pods crawling around in The cheato and on the tank glass. __________________ Just a little patience Current Tank Info: 90 Gallon (FOWLR) and 29 Gallon used for QT mostly

10/24/2012, 03:26 PM	#2
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	Do you have the chaeto ball up near the water surface? If not prop it up on some live rock or egg crate. If it's not near the surface it will not grow. You should also flip over the chaeto ball once or twice a week to keep the underside from dieing.

10/24/2012, 04:10 PM	#3
TheKman Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 227	I had this issue as well until I got my chaeto to float towards the top and I also ran my fuge light for a longer period of time for a few days just to help jump start things, now it's growing like a weed

10/24/2012, 07:16 PM	#6
jack.lai.83 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Eastvale, CA Posts: 67	how much flow do you have through the sump. I had cheato earlier that also had cyano when it didn't have enough flow.